One last memory
by MFMG
Summary: Link has finally recovered all his memories from 100 years ago. But something's still bothering him.


He finally made it, he recovered all his memories, all that happened to him 100 years ago; to him, to his friends, to the champions, to the kingdom, TO HER.

All those memories and he can only think of her, her face, her thoughts, her suffering, her burden. Along their trip he became more than a mere bodyguard to her, he now knew it. He also knows that all that "perfect princess" pose was just a façade. She was afraid, scared, depressed, sad, overwhelmed. "SHE JUST WANTED TO PROTECT THE KINGDOM!" he thought bitterly, "As much as the others. Maybe even more". He started to walk randomly, looking around to all the broken guardians. "As much as I wanted to protect her." He was very confused.

He decided to go back to Kakariko village and talk to Impa again, all the way rummaging along his memories over and over again. "I'm sorry princess. You didn't fail." He thought sobbing "I did". It was really good that a big storm started on his way, so his tears would be mistaken as raindrops. He got to the village and went straight to Impa's house, ignoring all the Sheika that greeted him happily. He got in the house and looked straight at Impa and went to her. Paya froze on her spot and gulped at seeing him. He stood in front of Impa, looking at her sternly.

\- "Did you recover your last memory?" -Impa asked him and he nodded.

\- "Then why are you here?" -She asked him again and he just grunted.

\- "Something's still off, isn't it? Something's missing yet, right?" -She asked him and he again nodded. - "Tell me Link, what's troubling you? Tell me all about the memories you retrieved." -

He sat in front of her and told her about all his memories.

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After a few hours, Link told her everything to the minimum detail, every single memory, the ceremony, the silent princess and the frog, the courage shrine, Calamity Ganon, Revali, Urbosa, Daruk, Mipha, everything, at some moments, his voice cracked remembering how the princess suffered, that was what hurt him the most, her sadness, her desperation, her tears, he couldn't take it.

\- "Now you're wondering why do you feel like this, don't you?" -She asked him and he nodded. - "Well… I thought you'd have remember it for yourself by now, but it seems you haven't" -She said and he looked at her dumbfounded. - "Sigh… You told me about this memory where princess Zelda told you she'd get 17 years old, right?" -He nodded at her. - "Well… Do you think that the champions and the divine beasts were ready right away back then?" -She asked him and he looked at her dumbfounded. - "Of course not! First of all, Zelda had to find the beasts and choose the champions that would use them, that took a quite long time, and guess who went with her, ALL OVER HYRULE! to do that." -She said looking at him sternly and he gulped. - "Exactly! YOU!" -She pointed at him. - "You, among all men in Hyrule, were chosen, by the master sword, to be her bodyguard, yes. But you became more than that, don't you? You became her companion, her confident, her partner, her friend!" -Impa took a pause and a very deep breath after. - "You two started your journey, even before she was 16 years old Link. You two had a quite long time to get along, and there's still one last memory you need to retrieve Link. I know because I was there." -Impa closed her eyes and smiled remembering her very own memory. She opened her eyes, and still smiling she looked at him. - "I'd gladly tell you, but you might not believe me, so you better go to the time temple as fast as you can." -She said and Link stood up. "Oh! And pick a silent princess on the way there, its aroma could help you remember." -She said and he nodded at her. Then he left and went to look for a silent princess flower.

\- "What's going on grandma? Link seemed very upset." -Pahya asked Impa after Link left.

\- "My dear girl, it's time for you to know something that will hurt you deeply." -She told her and asked her to sit in front of her. That night, Pahya cried her eyes out in deception.

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Link found a silent princess close to the great fairy fountain, and then, teleported to the life temple. From there he went to the time temple, he got in, looking around, trying to remember, he looked at the goddess Hylia statue there, but nothing came to him, he walked to the goddess statue and stood in front of it, he then took the silent princess flower, smelled it and it came to him.

It was a beautiful full moon night, he was standing there, on the exact same point, wearing the royal guard uniform, trembling a little. He didn't have any weapon with him, his uncle, his only still living relative beside him, along with Talon, and Mido. On the other side, his childhood friend Malon, Talon's daughter, winked at him smiling, beside her were Saria, and Fado, also childhood friends.

\- "Shall we begin?" -The great Priest Kaepora asked him and he nodded. - "Ok then." -He nodded at the musicians and they started to play the traditional Hylian wedding march. At the end of the aisle, appeared a woman wearing the traditional white wedding dress, despite her face was covered with the veil, she looked stunning, the moonlight made her glow like a goddess along with the silent princess bouquet she had in hands, and Link couldn't but thank all the gods and goddesses for his good luck. Impa lead the bride's way, and when they reached Link, she placed the bride's hand over Link's hand, then Impa took her place beside Malon.

Link smiled warmly and rubbed her cheek, then he lifted the veil to see his beautiful bride's face. They looked at each other straight in the eyes, undying, passionate and permanent love was all that they could see.

\- "Dear and beloved, we're gathered here today to…" -The great priest Kaepora started the ceremony, but Link could barely hear him, all his attention, all his senses were focused on her, there was nothing else in the world for him right now, absolutely nothing, not even time, just her, his bride and best friend, his confident, his goddess.

She may be Hyrule's princess, yes, but even if she wasn't, she's his princess.

He was so mesmerized by her that saw her moving her beautiful lips and barely heard her say "I do."- She was crying at this point and Link wiped her tears with his thumps, very gently and kindly, completely lost in her eyes.

Then, his uncle patted him on the shoulder and startled him, Link turned around to look at him with a stern look. - "Answer the question my boy." -He told him smiling widely.

Link turned to the priest, a little embarrassed. - "Sigh… do you, Link, take this woman as your beloved wife?" -The priest asked him, skipping all the vows that he already said to summarize the ceremony, because, for him, the boy already answered the question, even if he didn't say anything.

Link turned to face her again, nodding. - "Of course, of course I do!" -He said, looking at her again in the eyes.

\- "By the power invested on me, by the goddess Hylia. I now pronounce you, husband, and wife. You may kiss the bride." -The priest finished, and to everyone's surprise, Zelda threw herself at him, giving him a very deep and passionate kiss. Then, everything faded away.

Link snapped out of it, he fell to the ground and was breathing hard, for the first time, the memory overwhelmed him, he was crying, feeling miserable and useless, he failed, he failed to Hyrule, to the kingdom, to the people, but most importantly, HE FAILED HER! He didn't just fail to Hyrule's princess, HE FAILED TO HIS WIFE! After a few minutes, he stood up, wiped his tears, took a deep breath and turned around, then he gulped at the sight in front of him.

\- "Finally!" -Hyrule's king's spirit was in front of him. - "At last you remembered it." -The king approached to him. - "You know, I was there too, how could I miss my own daughter's wedding huh? I didn't like that she didn't told me, but I guess you two were afraid of me denying it, don't you?" -He patted Link's shoulder; he couldn't even look at the king's face. - "You have nothing to apologize, boy. To tell you the truth, since the moment I met you I thought of you as a good prospect for her, instead of one of those spoiled and greedy princes that just wanted to, practically, "buy" Zelda in marriage with big treasures. The first one came when she was barely one month old. Can you believe that?" -The king laughed hard after saying that. - "I know that it seems off for a king, but I really wanted Zelda to have a happy life with the man she truly loved, instead of securing some alliance with another kingdom by giving her in marriage, I just wanted her to be happy, and you made her happy. You…" -The king stopped when he saw Link's face, the young knight was crying silently. - "Hey… Hey… Don't cry young man." -The king patted Link's shoulder. - "Listen to me Link, you didn't fail, neither did she, the calamity was inevitable or stoppable 100 years ago. There was no way to stop it then, but now you have a new chance to save everything and everyone." -The King cheered and Link looked at him in the eyes.

\- "How…" -Link mumbled.

\- "Come again?" -The king asked him.

\- "How could I…" -Link hesitated. - "How could I forget such a thing?" -Link asked still crying. The king didn't say anything. - "How could I forget our wedding? How could I forget her voice? HOW COULD I FORGET SHE'S MY WIFE?" -Link burst.

\- "Link, you were asleep for 100 years, healing your wounds, you were almost dead when the Sheikah brought you to the life temple. Your memory was fuzzy when you woke up, that's all. It's not your fault." -

\- "But… I…" -Link didn't know what else to say, he was overwhelmed by this new memory. Until now he was just trying to redeem what happened 100 years ago. Accomplish his mission and save Hyrule and the princess Zelda. Now, he has to save Hyrule AND HIS WIFE! This has just become more serious to him.

\- "Now you remember that you love her, don't you?" -The king asked him and he just nodded.

\- "I already knew that I loved her. But I didn't realize how much… until now. How could I fail her like that?" -

\- "Don't torture yourself with what you did or didn't in the past Link. You'll do a better work doing something now. Go to the castle, you're ready. You can do it. Save everything, save Hyrule, save my daughter and your wife." -The king tried to cheer up Link, who was already taking the Sheikah stone to teleport to the castle's closest shrine. - "And for the love of the goddess Link, save my grandchild!" -Link was about to teleport but stopped after hearing what the king said. Link turned to look at him, his eyes were wide as plates, and his jaw almost reached the floor. - "She didn't tell you huh." -The king said smiling at him. - "Yeah, despite her duties, my little girl always liked to surprise people and make them smile with good things and gifts. All the maids and guards loved her because of her, not because she was the princess, but for her. Pretty sure she wanted to tell you after stopping calamity Ganon. That way you'd have a more normal life." -The king said smiling, remembering all the times Zelda played harmless pranks and gave gifts to her maids and guards, making them smile, but then, he looked at Link, who was very troubled and stressed. The king put a hand over his shoulder. - "You have to stop worrying about the past now Link. You'd do better if you focus on the present and the future. FOCUS ON YOUR MISSION SOLDIER!" -The king said in a very commanding tone and Link finally snapped out of it, he nodded at the king and teleported. - "Good luck." -The king whispered and vanished again.

Link appeared in the shrine inside the castle and went straight to the throne's hall. He burst into the hall through its majestic gates, Calamity Ganon right there, expecting him. Link took the master sword and the royal guard shield, and very calmly walked straight to Calamity Ganon. - "WHERE IS SHE?!" -He suddenly yelled and charged against the beast.

**How is this going to end? That's all up to you, PLAYER ONE.**

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**A/N: The legend of Zelda, breath of the wild is such an amazing game, it´s been a long time since I played such a detailed and wonderful game. It's just beautiful, and all those hints about a possible relationship between Link and Zelda just spices it even more. As far as I can remember, something like that hasn't happened, at least not in such obvious way, since skyward sword. I completely forgot about Mario Odyssey and even Super Smash Bros Ultimate. I'm going to play it again since the very beginning. And I'm definitely going to get the sequel as soon as it comes out.**


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